Category: Religion and History

The value of historical theology, then, consists in the fact that it is already philosophical. It does not merely supply philosophical theology with materials; it is itself already grappling with the philosophical problems. Religion...

We are now able to suggest more fully the relation of history to philosophy. Neither can exist without the other ; each presupposes the other. That is to say, they are interdependent and simultaneous...

Positivism and scepticism both break down under examination. We cannot, it appears, do without either philosophical or historical thought. We seem therefore to have here a distinction within the region of the intellect parallel...

The other argument against the use of history in theology asserts that there are two categories of fact, historical and philosophical; and that since they are totally distinct, theological propositions, which are essentially philosophical...

Historical positivism thus fails to give any answer to theological questions. It can tell us that the Church has anathematised certain doctrines. But what those doctrines mean, or why any one ever held them,...

The ideal of a history of the Church as a substitute for philosophical theology is plainly open to the same general objections. It profits nothing to catalogue the heresies of early Christianity and get...

Comparative religion is the classification and comparison of different religions or of different forms of the same religion. Its aim is to determine the precise beliefs of such and such a people or sect....